Feds agrees to share some Gulf oil spill documents

NEW ORLEANS – The Justice Department has agreed to turn over at least 100 scientific documents in response to BP PLC's claims that the federal government may have overestimated the amount of oil that spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from the company's Macondo well.

In a court filing Wednesday, Justice Department attorneys also vow to work with BP to resolve their dispute over the company's assertion that the government improperly withheld thousands of similar documents.

Last month, BP asked a magistrate to order the government to turn over roughly 10,000 documents that appear to relate to "flow rate issues" following the 2010 spill.

The government estimates 4.9 million barrels of oil spewed from the well, but the company says the government's earlier estimates may have been lower.